Finlay Ager: A Birth Story

In December of last year, while attending a friends wedding, I found out that my dear friend and midwife Emily was expecting her second child. I was overjoyed with excitement for her and couldn't wait to see what the next year had in store for us both. Because I had just become a mother myself the next few months flew by and the next thing I knew it was time to take her maternity photos! We decided to take them at the beautiful Guajome Park in Oceanside, Ca because it is one of Emily's favorite spots in North County and it is always filled with the most dreamy golden light that as a photographer I find so inspiring. She brought along her handsome husband Joey and her adorable son Rowan and we had a blast capturing this beautiful families obvious love for this new little one.

A few weeks later I was woken up at 7:00am by a call from Emily's sister Katie. I had been loosing sleep for days waiting for this news and it was finally time! She informed me that Emily was in labor and was progressing well. She wanted to give me time to find a sitter for my daughter Emery but said she would text me when they were ready for me to come over. Every baby and therefore every birth is different and unique in its own special way and even though Emily and I had planned on me being there to photograph her delivery God had other plans that morning. The next thing I knew I got a text from Katie that said "Come NOW baby is coming now!" With her first son Rowan, Emily had been in labor for 43 hours! This little one decided to come out in 6.5! It was a surprise to us all! So on July 6th 2015 at 8:53 am Finlay Roy St. Clair Ager made his debut into the world weighing 7lbs. 8oz. and measuring 20.5 inches. After rushing over I arrived a few minutes after 9:00am. Her mother answered the door and it was so quite and right away I knew that I had missed it and my heart sank. However when I walked In and saw my dearest friend emily holding her new little angel my heart smiled again. I let the family share a few moments in private and then I began capturing the emotion in the room.

They decided ahead of time not to find out the sex of the baby until birth (I was sure it was a girl lol) but thier son Rowan had been calling the baby "Bazachomba" pretty much the whole time. After a while when they decided on a name for thier new son they brought Rowan over and told him what his brothers name was going to be. As you can see he had mixed emotions.

Later on "Bama" stopped by to meet her newest great grandson and I can say it has been one of my favorite moments to capture to date. I left a few minutes later as the midwifes were cleaning up and her mother had brought out her special lasagna that Emily had requested for her after delivery meal. A week later I came back to find a grown up little man! The hand knit blankets and tapestry from India made the most amazing backdrops for these photos and the cute measuring tape given to her by her midwife Lauren was the perfect touch! To be able to document these moments from belly to baby was an amazing joy. I hope this family treasures these photos for years to come.